The original Blue Santa pictured here was found at Lock 3 Park in Akron, Ohio during an archaeological dig by The American Toy Marble Museum. It was manufactured on the site by The American Marble & Toy Manufacturing Co in the mid - 1890’s. This company was the first toy marble factory in the USA and they mass produced the world’s first toy - a clay marble. They made a million marbles a day and turned out dozens of other penny toys, including the Blue Santa. Made in the old German tradition, wearing a blue hooded coat, the Blue Santa looks quite different from today’s Santa. The modern Santa, with his red suit trimmed in white and stocking cap, originated in 1931 as an advertisement for the Coca Cola Company. After the turn of the 20th century, German figurines of Santa were imported to USA. The production of American made ceramic figurines did not return until the late 1910’s and early 1920’s.At the original North Pole (Akron, OH), our blue elf artists use Old World mass production techniques to create today’s New Blue Santa for you!